18G 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. W-No. 12 



THE 



ORNITHOLOG1STp.*'O0L0GIST 



A ^[onthly Magazine of 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF 



THEIR NESTS AND EOOS, 



and to the 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS. 



Under the Editorial Management of 



FRANK B. WEBSTER, 

 J. PARKER NORRIS, 

 FRANK A. BATES, 



Boston, Mass. 



Pliiladelpliia, Pa. 



Boston, Mass. 



mil-ISHEO AT 



FRANK B. WEBSTER'S 



N A T U R A L 1 S T S' S U P P L Y I) E T' O T 



Bo.STox, Mass., U. S. A. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every i)aid sub- 

 scriber. If you fail to receive it, notify us. 



Editorial. 



With this issue we close Vol. XV. [t will 

 reach you durino" the festivities of the closiii" 

 year. We hope it will liiid you, one and 

 all. hapi)y and i)rosperous. 



\[AI!K THE <'IIAN<iE. 



As previously noticed, in tiie future, the 

 O. & (). will he i)ul)lished at Hyde Park, 

 Mass. 



S(IH,S(l!IPTIONS. 



Wu shall hereafter continue tiie (). tVr O. un- 

 til notified to stop. Nearly all suhscriptions 

 expire at the end of the year. When you send 

 in ycuu' annual fee (-SI. 00) to t)ur ornitliolooical 

 contribution l)ox, a new subscriher with it will 

 make (uir hearts palpitate with joy. Nature 

 abhors a vacuum. Our ])ocket book is in that 

 condition. 



KXCIIANdES. 



I'ldtlisiu'rs are reiiuested to send exclianoes 

 to our Hyde Park address. 



Brief Notes. 



On Nov. 2Vk IS',10, tiic -'.I. 1'. \." collection 

 of eg<>s, of Philadelphia, contained by actual 

 count 530 species, 4,032 setx of ejij^s, and 

 17,022 egos. This is now by far the laroest 

 private collection of e<ios in tJu' Pnited 

 States. 



The above item cannot fail to convince any 

 reader that witli such a collection to use for 

 comparison, the possessor should l)e ji;ood au- 

 thority. The collection we know has been 

 made under a scrutinizin<i' surveillance that is 

 characteristic of that <>entleman. 



In addition to the above the publisher has a 

 scientific stock that exceeds that of any dealer 

 in this country. TakiniJ,- both, we claim to be 

 authority. The back numljers of the O. & O. 

 are full of facts on the subject, and an orni- 

 thologist who does not have them in his pos- 

 session is behind the times. 



We do not state the above in a spirit of 

 braggadocio; simple cold facts. 



A prominent feature of the January issue 

 will be the publication of a description of a 

 series of eggs of the Red-shouldered Hawk, 

 that will be worth the piice of a year's sub- 

 scrii)tion. Seventy-seven sets — a series for 

 variation and interesting connections — un- 

 equalled. 



During the past year jVh-. Norris has personally 

 ciuitributed several articles describing series 

 of eggs, one of which is in this number, that 

 are of the utmost value to our oologists, and 

 shoidd l)e carefully read. 



The index which we hand you with this 

 issue has been prepared by "J. P. N." 



Snowy Owls have appeared in unusually 

 large nund)ers; more than in any year since the 

 remarkable Higlit some ten years since. E. P. 

 Wonson reports several at Gloucester. We re- 

 ceived seven in twenty-four hours, and every 

 day we are notified by postals from all over the 

 New P^ngland coast of their appearance. Now 

 is the time for you to get one for your 

 collection. 



Fixe Specimex of the Sxowy Owl. — A 

 most elegant specimen of the Snowy Owl was 

 killed in Little Compton on Wednesday by 

 F. W. ('. Almy oi that town. It measured five 

 feet, seven inches from tip to tip of wings. It 

 will be mounted by I. M. Thrasher, taxider- 

 mist. — [P'all itiver News. 



Canadian customs officials at Windsor have 

 been ordered to collect duty on all implements 

 of American sportsmen coming into Canada 

 for a day's slu)oting. Tiie custom heretofore 

 has been to recpure a small dei)osit, wliicli 

 was refunded. — [To-<lay. 



H. W. Marsden shot a Mockingbird at 

 Quincy, Mass.. Dec. 1. We personally examined 

 it, aiul i)ronounced it not a cage bird. About 

 the same time another was shot about twenty- 

 five miles from this locality. 



(;. A. Barrett, the I'urchase street dealer in 

 hides, furnisiied us with a black bear from 

 Manitoba that weighed .")(')0 pounds. We shall 

 mount it. When Harry gets to be that size 

 — thunder! 



Qiiail are plenty in many localities in this 

 stite. 'IMu' efforts of the Massachusetts Fish 

 and (4anie Association have been an important 

 factor to this. Success to their efforts. 



